Facebook's new Messenger beta program is already making great strides with a jump to v4.0. You'll have to be in the beta program to get access, but it's quick to set up. Once opted in, you'll get to check out a few interesting new features in Facebook's chat app.

Here's the changelog for v4.0, which will not show up unless you're in the beta program.

Groups: Now you can create groups for the people you message most. Name them, set group photos and keep them all in one place

Forwarding: Want to send a message or photo to someone who isn't in the conversation? Just tap to forward it on

Conversation Shortcuts: Create a shortcut so that you can get to any conversation right from your home screen

Plus, continued improvements to make the app faster and more reliable

If you chat with the same people on a regular basis, the groups feature will be handy. In the same vein, Home screen shortcuts ought to make it easier to jump into a conversation without opening the Messenger app itself. The beta update is live now for everyone in the program, and it's using the new split changelog system. If you see v4.0 changes listed in the Play Store, you're enrolled in the beta.